More From Alder's Ledge

September 29, 2013

The Canary In The Coal Mine

Laying At The Bottom Of The Cage
(Roma In Europe series)

In every society there is often
one group of people whom the rest of society deems it acceptable for the rest
of society to discriminate against. For the groups within that society which
set just on the edge of the boundary between being acceptable targets of
discrimination and not being on that same plane, these are the canaries. Their
well being, or lack there of, acts as an indicator for what awaits the rest of
society’s vulnerable minorities. If the accepted scapegoat is abused
relentlessly the rest of society’s minorities can expect no better treatment in
the near future. If however the said scapegoat is tolerated then the rest of
society’s minorities can, within reason, expect to be tolerated as well.

In the Arakan state of Burma the
canary has always been the Rohingya people. Their song as of late has been that
of a warning of their impending death. Many have already passed away. Yet the
world ignores their plight as the Kaman and other minority groups in Burma now
suffer the same fate. The Rohingya are the scapegoat upon which the aggression,
the hatred, and the blame for all of society’s ills can be placed. The sheer
weight of this burden lends itself to their sad songs as their women, children,
and elderly slip through the grate.

The reason groups like the
Rohingya in Burma and the Romani in Europe spend so much time calling out
warnings that no one hears is almost unexplainable. Their sorrow can be heard
with every passing day if only the world had ears to listen and a heart with
which to feel. And perhaps it is in that one aspect of our relationship with
these groups that we can see just to what extent these groups are true canaries
in the coal mine.

Europe’s
Canary

Prior to the rise of fascism in
Germany in the mid 1920’s there was a silent battle that history has all but
forgot. It was a struggle that society’s most neglected and abuses minority
began on it’s own and would end with millions more by their side. It was a
horrific fight for survival that was ignored by the very people who would later
end up in the same camps. It was the beginning of the Romani peoples’ “devouring”.

In the early days of the
Holocaust the Germans appeared at times pacified with their attempts to simply
kill off the mentally handicapped and those deemed to be a drain upon civilized
society. While it is debatable as to how the Germans viewed the Roma in regards
to the race laws (mostly enacted against the Jews) the results of these actions
is not. Soon after the first gassing of mentally handicapped and terminally ill
patients the Germans began to clear Roma ghettos around major German cities.
Some were moved to camps located near city dumps and other unsanitary locations
in an attempt to lower the quality of life to a point where death and disease
were inevitable. These smaller ghettos were designed to overcrowd the camps and
create drastic shortages in food, water, and other basic necessities of daily
life.

The most direct result to the
German public however was the sudden disappearance of the “gypsy” community
from many German cities. This minor reward to an ethnocentric and bigoted
society was enough for most German citizens to overlook the mistreatment of the
Roma themselves. Small incentives like this would only serve to prove to the
German government that the citizens of their society were capable of being
bought off when it came to their moral standards and the treatment of other
human beings.

When Roma were soon driven out of
camps in forests and community areas the German people nearly celebrated even
more. There was little to no public response that would prove to be unfavorable
to the deportation and cruel confinement of entire Roma families. The lack of
dissension amongst society proved to the German government once again that the
songs of Europe’s canary were falling upon deaf ears.

With the opening of Germany’s
first concentration camps the only real sound of dissension came when Germans
suddenly realized that these camps were not meant just for Jews and Roma. When
the fear that they could be next finally arose the German people were awoken to
the reality that it was already too late. German citizens, not of Jewish or
Roma origin, who would join the minorities they had ignored were said to need
reeducated on what being a “good German” really was. The songs the canary had
sung for so long were already silent as many Roma already lay dead at the hands
of the well rooted fascist regime.

Today in France and across the
rest of Europe the song of Europe’s canary is approaching it’s last notes.
Warning cries have been falling upon deaf ears for some time now as countries
like France have continued to deport and cruelly detain entire Roma families.
This has only been added to as countries like Sweden are added to the roster of
fascists ready and willing to join the ranks of oppressors. A lesson that
history so brutally taught Europe just a couple generations ago is now being
drummed back up as these tyrants beat their chest and push their boots upon the
Romas’ backs.

The bigotry that had been seen in
Europe prior to the World War Two (though doubtful it ever really faded) is
approaching the same levels today as it was back then. People who call
themselves tolerant and open-minded when it comes to drugs, sex, and religion
are now willing to sacrifice their morals when it comes to race. And with this one
point, this one area of selling out to power hungry politicians, the liberties
of Europe are pushed closer to the edge. For where they give an inch the
governments to which they bow will take a mile.

"Stockholm City Kept Roma Registry Until 1996"

- The Local

"Majority Of French Believe Roma Should Leave France"

- France 24

"French Police Clear Roma Camp In Centre Of Roubaix"

- BBC News

"French Minister Calls For Roma To Be Sent Home"

- Irish Independent

What is even more surprising however is the sheer rate of speed at which governments like France's have been able to capitalize upon their citizens' bigotry and callousness. Two short years ago the French government was risking everything when they sent wave after wave of Romani families off to Eastern Europe. Now the French public seems to be just as heartless as their government as they quickly begin to cheer the government on in it's new round of deportations. There is little to no empathy in the sounds of France's collective voice as it bids farewell to the Roma who have called France home for countless years.

So what lay ahead for France's remaining minorities now that the canary has been ignored?

Muslims in France, and rapidly across the rest of Europe, are filling in the role that the Jewish population had played during fascism's last march across the continent. In an eerie manner, the Muslim population has begun to feel the same level of discrimination that Jews had felt in the late 20's and early 30's. Where the Germans had created laws to increase the level of violent oppression the Jews had felt, France refuses to uphold laws. Where the Germans had forced the Jews to wear yellow stars, France strips the Muslims of their religious clothing. Yet no matter the small differences in the approach; society at large has vastly ignored the sudden increase in discrimination against a group they quietly deem to be the "new comers".

This of course is not factual since Mosques and Muslims have been part of Europe for countless generations. Yet it is the same bigoted response that Jews faced in Germany as their leaders and government encouraged the discrimination that these such accusations encourage. By clarifying the line of demarcation between "us verses them" the society takes the next step and government gets to increase it's control.

Where we should had seen this with the Roma over the past couple decades we are now approaching the point of being too late to see it with the rest of Europe's vulnerable minorities. By allowing the French (and other governments as well) to deport and harass Romani citizens we give the green light for those same leaders to do equally depraved acts to the rest of society. If a group can be singled out for unjust and inhumane acts of oppression and discrimination than any other group can be made the scapegoat as well.

If the portions of Europe's minorities that set on the fringe of society are to be spared, the rest of society must decide to take a stand against the oppressors. For it is in their silence that fascism is fed. It is in their ignorance that tyranny plants it's seed. And it is in their apathy that the roots of future dictatorships take hold.